Grijalva: Progressives Will Push For Changes To House Bill

[babylonsister]

Grijalva: Progressives Will Push For Changes To House Bill


Liberal Democrats in the House of Representatives can get behind the health care bill Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled today, but they'll press Democratic House leaders to make changes to it, according to one of the leaders of the House Progressive Caucus.

Progressive lawmakers are "obviously disappointed" that Pelosi's bill didn't include a stronger public option, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), one of two co-chairs of the House Progressive Caucus, said in a phone interview.

"There's a level of satisfaction that we've brought {the public option} back from the dead, but a level of disappointment that it's not what we think the mechanism should have been," Grijalva said.

"We're gonna ask the leadership in the House to make some imrpovements on it," Grijalva said. "Obviously the most difficult issue is, something that people are requesting, is that we have an up or down vote on the robust public option as an amendment."

House leaders have indicated that the reform package will be closed to such an amendment when it reaches the floor for a vote, which is expected as early as next week. Democratic leaders reportedly don't have enough votes to pass a robust public option--one that ties physician and hospital reimbursement rates under the government-run plan to those used by Medicare.

But Grijalva says progressives are close--and they want to try to get there.

more...
http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/10/grijalva_progressives_will_push_for_change_to_house_bill.php

[joeycola]

1. OH-this is beautiful music to hear.

[Ruby the Liberal]

2. Not to mention that Pelosi will have to go back on her word as

she already said they could debate Weiner's amendment.

I hope he makes hay out of this if it is denied.

[babylonsister]

3. I don't know what she'll do, but she cannot ignore the progressives

in the House. Maybe more compromise down the road?

[blondeatlast]

4. Rep. grijalva makes me proud to be an Arizonan and is a genuinely nice person. Alas,

he's nowhere near my district but we do have a couple of good ones to offer (Ed Pastor is another, both from bluer southern Arizona).